Bulb-cutting machine



R. w. summ.

BULB CUTTING MACHINE.

armcmou mm ma. n. ma.

1,315,799. Patented Sept. 9, 1919.-

inventor: Rup ert \N. Suman,

bg i fi m His fitter-neg.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RUPIEER'I' W. SUMAN, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BULB-CUTTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9, 1919.

Application filed February 13, 1918. Serial No. 216,980.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUPPERT W. SUMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bulb-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Bulbs for miniature lamps are commonly blown from glass tubing, and have a comparatively long neck, part of Which should be cut off at right angles to the neck to facilitate the subsequent lamp making opera tions. Usually the necks are cut by a slow and expensive hand operation. The object of my invention is to improve and cheapen this part of lamp manufacturing. To this end I provide a machine for automatically cutting the necks of bulbs and similar glass articles, and also provide a feeding mechanism particularly suitable for automatically feeding or delivering bulbs or other similar articles having a body portion and a comparatively long neck or shank considerably smaller than the body. The novel features of my invention are hereinafter more fully described and are pointed out with particularity in the appended claims.

Merely for purposes of illustration, I have shown in the accompanying drawings one of the various forms in which my invention ma be embodied and in which Figure 1 is a si e view of a machine embodying one form of my invention and having certain parts broken away to show the details more clearly; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal. section on a larger scale of a portion of the machine along the line 2-2; Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow 3, and Flg. 4 is a back view of a part of the machine shown in Fig. 1.

In the particular machine illustrated in the drawings the various parts of the mechanism are mounted upon a table or frame 10. Suitable actuating mechanism, such as an electric motor 11 having a driving pulley 12 and connected through worm gearing 13 and spur gearing 14 to a counter-shaft 15, is mounted beneath the top of the table to drive the other parts which are conveniently mounted on the to of the table.

The articles to 0 cut are automatically brought to a cutter, such as a sharp edged carborundum cutting wheel 16 mounted on the top of the table and driven by a belt from the driving pulley 12. Any other suitable form of cutter may be used, but I have obtained the best results with the earborundum Wheel. In accordance with my invention the necks of the bulbs while being out are automatically subjected to a bending strain exerted transversely of the neck of a bulb during the time that the cutting wheel is in contact with the neck, so that a cut or crack produced in the glass at the point of contact with the cutting wheel will extend all the way around the neck and in a plane perpendicular to it, thereby severing the waste end of the neck from the remainder by a clean cut. The preferred mechanism for automatically bringing the necks of the bulbs to the cutting wheel one at a time and under the proper bending strain, comprises a movable carrier which automatically grips a bulb, brings it into contact with the edge of the cutting wheel under proper cutting conditions to obtain a clean cut square across the neck and then automatically discharges it at a predetermined point. In the machine illustrated the carrier is driven from the counter-shaft 15 through any suitable gearing, such as a chain 17, which drives in a counter-clockwise direction a shaft 18 journaled in a pedestal l9 and mounted parallel to the shaft of the cutter 16. On this shaft 18 is mounted a bulb carrier comprising a rotatable member or disk 20 provided with holders for the bulbs. A convenient form of holder comprises a bulb receiving recess in the eriphery of the disk and a clamp for hol ing the bulb in the recess. The recess consists of a notch 21 of a suitable size to take the necks of the bulbs, and a semispherical socket 22 in which the body portion of the bulb will fit snugly. A clamp 23 mounted on the disk 20 immediately over each socket 22 is normally held b a spring 24 in position to clamp a bulb firm y in place in the socket. In Fig. 1 two of the clamps 23 are artly broken away in order to show more c early the relation of the bulb receiving sockets to the other parts of the mechanism.

To facilitate placing the bulb in and releasing it from the carrier, I provide some means for automatically opening and closing the clamps 23. For this purpose I prefer stationary cams mounted in the path of the clamps 28 to actuate them at the desired points in the travel of the disk 20. For example, at the loadingpoint A, .a stationary cam 25 holds each clamp 23 away from the disk as the bulb is placed in position but as the disk moves a short distance beyond the loading point A the clamp 23 moves ofi' the stationary cam-25 and then yieldingly clamps the bulb in the socket with the neck of the bulb projecting from the side of the disk and parallel to the shaft 18. A similar stationary cam 26 at the discharge point C lifts the clamp 28 and permits the bulb to drop out of the disk 20 into some suitable chute or receptacle. As the neck of the bulb approaches the point of contact with the cutter 16 it is subjected to a transverse stress which may be applied in various ways, but preferabl by a. resilient finger or presser 27 mounter, as best shown in Figs. 3 and l, in position to engage the outer end of the neck as the bulb approaches the cutter and to ress the neck outward toward the cutter. ince the bulb is yieldingly held in the disk 20 the pressure exerted by the .presser 27 on the outer end of the neck of the bulb and radially of the disk tilts the bulb in the socket 22 against the pressure of the clamp 23 and moves the neck outward, tending to bend it over the edge of the cutter, and exerting a stress on the projecting portion of the neck of the bulb, particularly in that part of the neck which. contacts with the cutter. The resser is so shaped andmounted that this bending stress is applied before the neck comes in contact with the cutter and is maintained during the cutting operation, so that the crack-startedby the cutter instantly runs around the neck and cuts off the outer end, whereupon the pressure of the clamp 23 seats the bulb in the socket 22 and pulls the cut end oftbe neck away from the cutter 16 and towards (the shaft 18. Other forms of pressers or similar devices for: exerting a yielding pressure upon the neck of the bulb may be used; for example, the resser 27 may be in itself sufiiciently resilient to obtainethe desired results, or it may. be a pivoted finger held in place by a spring 28.

The bulbs maybe supplied at the loading point A by hand if desired, but I. preferto use my novel-form of chute or loading device, which is of particular utility for handling bulbs and similar articles which have a body portion. and a neck or shank portion smaller than the body. As shown in Fig. 2, this device. comprises a delivery chute 29 having a. bottom-with a slot 30 throu h which the necks of the bulbs project. '1 e lower or delivery end of this chute is provided withextensions 31 with which the peripheryof the diskflO makes a fairly close contact so that the delivery end of the chute is losed by the disk. As each recess in the dis 20 comes into alinement with the lower engaged by end of the slot 30 of the delivery chute, the lowermost bulb drops into it, as the clamp 25 is held outof the way by the cam.

The notch 21. is deeper than the diameter of the neck of the bulb, and when one bulb drops to the bottom 01' the notch there is room for the neck of the next bulb to partly enter the notch. To prevent crushing the neck of the second bulb under these conditions i provide at the lower end of the chute a step or stop 32 which catches the bulb before it drops to the bottom of the slot and holds it with the upper side of its neck even with the top of the slot until the disk has carried the bulb away from the chute, when the bulb runs off the step 32 and drops down with its neck at the bottom of the notch before the clamp 23 11118 oil the cam 25.

The remaining bulbs are held in place by the smooth periphery of the disk until the next recess comes into alineinoni with the slot 30, whereupon another bulb drops into the disk 20, and so on.

In order that the bulbs or similar articles may move freely by gravity through the delivery ehute and be delivered in the best position to the rotatable carrier the chute Qi) is curved, as shown in Fig. 2, on a radius such that the bottom of the chute forms a curve which enables me to obtain an uninterrupted and uniform feeding of the bulbs down the chute to the movable carrier.

By my invention I provide a mechanism which will automatically bring the necks of. the bulbs into contact with the edge of the cutting wheel while the necks are held under a transverse bending strain, thereby removing the surplus neck from the bulb with a clean square cut, and then automatically drop the finished bulb into some suitable receptacle or chute. The roduct is much more uniform and the cost is much less than where the neck is done by 'hand.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States; is.

1. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with a movable cutter, of a feed mechanism comprisi'n av holder for the article to be cut means or exerting upon the article in said holder a stress tending to bend the article over the edge of said cutter during the cut, and actuating mechanism formoving said holder and said cutter relativel to each other to carry a part of said artic e while under said bending stress alongthe edge of the cutter.

2. In a machine of the characterdescribed, the combination with a cutting wheel having a fixed axis of rotation, of a movablecarrier for'holdin the articles to be cut with a portion thereo proj ecting into position to be the edge of the cutting wheel, and a. resilient presser for exerting upon the projecting portion of said article during the ill) cutting a stress tending to bend it over the edge of the cutting Wheel, and actuating mechanism for moving said carrier to bring said articles while under stress into engagement with the edge of said cutting Wheel.

3. In a bulb cuttin machine, the combination of a rotatable isk having a recess in the periphery to receive a bulb and hold it With its neck projecting parallel to the axis of rotation of said disk, a resilient clamping member on said disk for holding a bulb firmly seated in said recess, a resilient presser mounted in the path of the neck of the bulb to exert during a definite portion of the travel of said disk a stress tending to move the outer end of the neck of the bulb away from the center of said disk, and a cutter mounted adjacent the periphery of said disk to engage the outer edge of the neck of the bulb between said presser and said disk while the neck of the bulb is in contact with said presser.

4. A bulb cutting machine comprising a delivery chute for bulbs, a rotatable member mounted with its periphery in position to act as a closure for the delivery end of said chute and having recesses in the periphery, each recess shaped to receive and hold a bulb With its neck projecting to one side of said member, clamping means coiiperating With said member to clamp the bulbs firml in said recesses, a resilient presser mounted adjacent said member to exert a yielding pressure upon the necks of said bulbs tending to bend said necks transversely, a rotatable cutter mounted With its cutting edge between said member and said presser in position to engage and cut the projecting necks of said bulbs, and common actuatin means for driving said cutter and said mem er.

5. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a cutter, a movable member having sockets on one side and channels leading from said sockets to the other side, resilient clamps thereon extending across said sockets for normally holding articles in said sockets with a portion thereof extending through said channels and projecting from said member, actuating mechanism for moving said member to bring the projecting portions of the articles in said holders into operative relation to the cutter, and means associated with said member for rendering said clamps inoperative at predetermined points in the travel of said member.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a cutter, of a movable carrier having sockets for holding articles with a portion projecting from said sockets, resilient clamping bars pivoted in said carriers to extend across said sockets and normally exert pressure upon the articles therein and thereby hold said articles firmly in place, actuating mechanism for moving said carrier to bring the projecting portions of the articles in said holders into operative relation to said cutter, a stationary cam mounted adjacent the periphery of said carrier in position to be engaged by said clamping bars as said carrier moves and thereby lift each clamping bar and release the bulb in the corresponding socket at a predetermined point in the travel of said carrier.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day of Februar 1918.

RUPPERT W. UMAN.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I]. G." 

